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By Chidi Nkwopara
Monday, September 27, 2004
OWERRI—THE remains of the Director of Medical Services, Federal Ministry of Defence, Dr. James U.A. Opara, who was recently killed by armed robbers, has been laid to rest in his country home Umuejechi,Nekede, Owerri West local government area of Imo State.Scores of his colleagues, friends, relations and sympathizers wept uncontrollably as his lifeless body was interred, even as the Vicar-in- charge of Emmanuel Anglican Church, Umualum, Nekede, Rev. Promise Udo Oparanozie, in his tribute, prayed fervently that those who murdered Dr. Opara must pay for their sins. "All those who murdered you must certainly pay for your blood. Though you have died the physical death,we believe you will live again in the kingdom of God.Your death is a big blow to the church, but we shall contain ourselves to bear the loss,” Rev. Oparanozie said.
His elder brother, Sir Ben Opara, lamented that the pains of knowing that he was going to miss him forever” is most unbearable”, stressing that the family would leave vengeance to God. In her own tribute, his devastated widow, Mrs. Rhoda O.N. Opara, recounted how she shared ideas and plans with her husband on the ways to raise their children, regretting that she would have discouraged him from travelling in a night bus to Port Harcourt on an official assignment, if she had any premonition of the impending doom. "You have left me alone with the kids in the wilderness, wondering and wandering like a sheep without shepherd but God knows the best and in Him I trust to see me through”, Mrs. Opara lamented. While lamenting Dr. Opara’s gruesome death while on official duty, the Nekede community in their own oration, called on the security agencies “to properly investigate this wicked and violent death”, as well as bring the perpetrators of the heinous act to book.” We are also appealing to the Ministry of Defence to provide a scholarship programme for his three childrenup to the university level.
We also appeal that his widow be stabilized in her work place, to enable hercontinue to give these children an uninterrupted care which their father had designed for them. This gesturewill justify, to a large extent, such an unalloyed commitment to service rendered by the deceased to themilitary and humanity”, Nekede community pleaded.An eye witness account told VANGUARD that late “Dr. Opara passionately appealed to the armed gangsters who attacked their commercial bus 3a.m, August 25, 2004, at a point between Igueben-Uromi road, Edo State, to spare his life because of his wife and children but they were not prepared to take any of those pleas”.
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